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oh great, more gee whiz, we're so inadequate ,64 bit will make thing so much better?(snore) we cant even get a working maint patch for 7. 5.
apples sys upgrades create more trouble than they are worth(have you tried X.2.5?) and you guys gonna count on these same people to create a functioning 64bit sys to do your daily work on....HA! talk about fantasys.
And Beam....arthur is right , this is a LW forum, you have the right to hold any opinion about world affairs you wish, but you dont have the right to hammer
every one here with your personal "statement" each time you post.
this is not the place, and it really should be removed.

(archiea):If one has to be bombarded with each reply or post with someone's political view, then expect an argument.

(Paintboy):...this is not the place, and it really should be removed.

I tried notifying the powers that be a long time ago about tags like this and obviously nothing was done. It's the old addage of "the squeaky wheel gets the grease"; in other words, my one voice doesn't make much noise but perhaps multiple voices will.

I would hope that the most spirited debates on this forum would be about Lightwave and not religious or political views. I'm sure there are newsgroups and forums aplenty for the latter.

I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence

i reported the post to the moderator this am.
others who feel that this is not the place for "personal flag waving" should do the same. we will see whether it makes any difference, i suppose?
let keep it "on topic" and leave your personal"BS" outside.
it makes for a better forum.

BY the way...Beam i have been hanging around here for 3 years
and not a single one of your forcast or prognostications has ever come true.
not once...
spare us please

Feel free to also start a thread about the pros and cons of signatures.

64-bit CPUs

Even apart from the 64-bit issue, software needs to be maintained to run efficiently on new operating systems and CPUs.

Sometimes new OSs are incompatible with existing applications (look at 10.2.5), and software needs to be optimized to run efficiently on new CPUs.

If Lightwave 8 had to be delayed to incorporate these things, then I'd support that. The 64-bit issue falls into the same category. Otherwise Lightwave will not be able to see all the RAM on these new systems. That would create a very frustrating situation for users.

Going from 32-bit to 64-bit processors doesn't necessarily increase rendering speed for that reason. The new IBM970 processor will be much faster, but probably due to other processor enhancements.

The biggest gain from going 64-bit is the ability to use more RAM.

I'm sure some people are quite happy using lower amounts of RAM. Maybe even those who write the code for Lightwave get by quite well on less RAM.

However, in some production environments you need more RAM.

I think it was around 1996 that I bought a PowerPC Mac with 16MB of RAM. I thought it was a lot of RAM. I never would have dreamed of owning a machine with 2GB of RAM like I do now. It would have seemed outrageous and unnecessary.

It doesn't take long in computer years before components double in size. Those who are currently using 2GB of RAM are almost to the RAM limit (4GB) of 32-bit machines.

First, the PPC ISA was designed from the very start to transition *seamlessly* from 32bit to 64bit. This means that 64bit PPCs will run 32bit code as fast as an identical 32bit native variant at identical clocks. So, Apple should be able to start using this part easily by just using it as a 32bit implementation in the beginning.

As far as speed increases with regard to 32 to 64bit... There won't be ANY based on that simple migration alone. However, there are other processor/system enhancements that will need to be taken into consideration. Also keep in mind that the same thing applies to Microsoft/AMD 64bit systems as well. Simply going to 64bit adds no speed.

Memory...

Addressing more than 4GB is a forward looking design; especially if Apple is (or anyone) serious about video, 3D and servers. Period. End of story.

If I'm not mistaken, the current Moto parts offer support for 36bit already. It's just that Apple hasn't decided to take advantage of it. However, having a clean 64-bit address space is an advantage, as opposed to the 32bit + extensions. That is to say:

36bit extended addressing = support for up to 16GB for current Moto parts.

Keep in mind that this is usable on a per-process basis. Of course most apps like Photoshop would do just dandy with this, but why bother when you can migrate to a clean 64bit solution instead? In fact, by utilizing the PPC970 Apple will be doing exactly that.

Again, video processing *is* a a significant desktop application and one that Apple is pushing and video apps will simply GLOM as much RAM as you can throw at them.

Regarding the fact that many Lightwave users are currently using 2GB of RAM, and will soon need more than 4GB.... .....

Originally posted by js33 No your only half way there.
Do any Macs actually support 4 gigs of RAM?

Cheers,
JS

My point all along has been that in computer years it doesn't take long for capacity to double.

In only a few months Apple will release 64-bit machines and break through that 4GB RAM barrier. We want Newtek to support the move to 64-bit Macs, as well as other enhancements to optimize for the speed of the new IBM processor.

Siggraph:
Will anyone here be going to Siggraph? If so, you'll probably go to Newtek's stand to see this preview version of Lightwave 8.

Check out if it is running on Mac or Windows.
If there's no Mac version on display, ask them about support for the IBM970 processor, which will have been announced by Apple a month before.

Monday, June 23, 2003
This is the day when Steve Jobs will present the new 64-bit platform to the audience at the WWDC in San Francisco. IBM representatives will be holding lectures about the new processors.
An exciting time for the Mac community.